Multislice perfusion imaging in human brain using the C-FOCI inversion pulse: comparison with hyperbolic secant.

Perfusion studies based on pulsed arterial spin labeling have primarily applied hyperbolic secant (HS) pulses for spin inversion. To optimize perfusion sensitivity, it is highly desirable to implement the HS pulse with the same slice width as the width of the imaging pulse. Unfortunately, this approach causes interactions between the slice profiles and manifests as residual signal from static tissue in the resultant perfusion image. This problem is currently overcome by increasing the selective HS width relative to the imaging slice width. However, this solution increases the time for the labeled blood to reach the imaging slice (transit time), causing loss of perfusion sensitivity as a result of T(1) relaxation effects. In this study, we demonstrate that the preceding problems can be largely overcome by use of the C-shaped frequency offset corrected inversion (FOCI) pulse [Ordidge et al., Magn Reson Med 1996;36:562]. The implementation of this pulse for multislice perfusion imaging on the cerebrum is presented, showing substantial improvement in slice definition in vivo compared with the HS pulse. The sharper FOCI profile is shown to reduce the physical gap (or "safety margin") between the inversion and imaging slabs, resulting in a significant increase in perfusion signal without residual contamination from static tissue. The mean +/- SE (n = 6) gray matter perfusion-weighted signal (DeltaM/M(o)) without the application of vascular signal suppression gradients were 1.19 +/- 0. 10% (HS-flow-sensitive alternating inversion recovery [FAIR]), and 1. 51 +/- 0.11% for the FOCI-FAIR sequence. The corresponding values with vascular signal suppression were 0.64 +/- 0.14%, and 0.91 +/- 0. 08% using the HS- and FOCI-FAIR sequences, respectively. Compared with the HS-based data, the FOCI-FAIR results correspond to an average increase in perfusion signal of up to between 26%-30%. Magn Reson Med 42:1098-1105, 1999. Copyright 1999 Wiley-Liss, Inc.